US Senator John Kerry, in Pakistan as part of a team to observe parliamentary elections, said Tuesday the vote "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy."(AFP/Aamir Qureshi)
Posted on 02/19/2008 6:33:31 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A team of US senators who monitored Pakistan's parliamentary elections said Tuesday the vote was credible and legitimate, representing a historic moment for the country.
Senators John Kerry, a former US presidential candidate, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel observed the vote held Monday in which President Pervez Musharraf's allies were facing a rout, according to unofficial results.
Kerry said that "even if the election was not meeting the highest standard," it "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the Pakistani people" as well as observers.
Opposition figures had alleged massive rigging in the run-up to the polls in favour of the Pakistan Muslim-Q party that supports Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror."
In Washington, the State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters that Pakistan "has taken a step towards the full restoration of democracy."
Kerry said that while it was "not a perfect election, not many have been in many parts of the world."
The US senator said the vote was "truly an historic, decisive moment for Pakistan" and praised people for coming out to cast their ballots despite the threat of violence.
"That unbelievable commitment to change is a dedication to the democratic process and I think it makes a profound statement to the country, to the region and the world," he said.
Biden said Musharraf met with the senators and was prepared to accept the results of the poll.
"He came in and started off the meeting by saying that people have spoken, results are clear and he is prepared to abide by and cooperate with whatever the ensuing coalition government comes forth with," Biden said.
Biden said the result, in which hardline Islamic parties were also almost wiped out, showed that most Pakistanis were moderate.
"It was a credible election. The people of Pakistan seem to have been satisfied with the outcome," he told reporters.
"The bottom line here is that the will of the moderate -- and the vast majority of Pakistani people are moderate and democratic -- is becoming a reality," he added.
Biden also called for a "tripling" in non-military assistance over the next 10 years to build schools, roads, healthcare centres and infrastructure.
Pakistan has received about 10 billion dollars in US aid, most of it military, since Musharraf supported the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and abandoned Pakistan's support for the Taliban regime in 2001.
Hagel said the senators had also met with Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, a senior member of the PML-Q.
"We found all the representatives and leaders of various parties ready to come together and form the government and work on behalf of the people of Pakistan and we were impressed by that," he said.
US Senator John Kerry, in Pakistan as part of a team to observe parliamentary elections, said Tuesday the vote "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy."(AFP/Aamir Qureshi)
Am I the only one who wonders if that group would have said the same thing had the election gone the other way?
U.S. senators, from left, John Kerry, D-Mass., Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., speak during a media conference at a hotel in Islamabad, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of several U.S. lawmakers who observed Pakistan's parliamentary elections, said Tuesday the results mean the United States can shift its Pakistan policy. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Kinda sounds like what he said about his service in Vietnam.
I feel dumber just LOOKING at that picture
Could we trade these three for Bin Laden?
And what do these three know about credibility?
It is obviously worse than that,
They are hoping for a loss in the world wide war on terror.
The only good dimorat is a dead one.
Biden: "The official at the polling station had this wide of stance."
John Kerry’s the jerk who still denies the extent of North Vietnam’s reeducation camps and massacres. What a great guy to send abroad to lend legitimacy to foreign political processes.
"Well, sure, it was a good enough election by Democrat standards. No more than 50% of the voters were dead."
Well, I wouldn’t go that far, genghis...
I simply don’t want people like them making decisions on my behalf or in my name, which is precisely what they do.
I just wish they would leave public life.
Even more US Senate crapola.
I won’t believe it until Jimmah tells me so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.